DISABLED people are set to stage a “BigPowerOff” day of action on Friday in protest against household bills soaring by more than half.

Participants will reduce power use to a bare minimum for a day in the first of a rolling programme of household protests leading up to the next expected big hike in energy prices on October 22.

The “power off” initiative was launched by Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, marking the April 1 imposition of huge price rises.

The group acknowledges that it is impossible for some people to live for a day without power, but is urging everyone to reduce consumption by turning heating down, avoiding using equipment such as irons and not watching TV.

Jennifer Jones, from DPAC Sheffield, said that proposed new laws would soon make most protests illegal.

“The beauty of the BigPowerOff is that there’s absolutely nothing that the government or the corporations they work for can do to stop it,” she said.

“What are they going to do? Waltz in and demand we put the heating on?

“We acknowledge that some people have no option at the moment but to eat cold foods.”

David Hayes of DPAC Sheffield said: “We have the power to tell gas and electricity suppliers to get off their greedy backsides and stop fleecing us all for our essential gas and electricity supplies.

“You don’t even have to go outside. You can protest from home. 

“We want to show power suppliers that we the people have the potential power to turn off the profits that make them and their shareholders obscenely wealthy whilst millions of people across the UK can’t even afford to cook our teas.”